Archive for the ‘Close to Nature’ Category

I found this lovely video about Mabini early this morning. I was born here and lived at the place until I was eleven. Mabini is a third class town in Western Pangasinan famous for its caves.

See the wooden bridge? We had a similar bridge like that when I was in grade school, now we have concrete one going to our place. The town hall was designed by my architect brother and he also undertook the renovation of the town’s health center. The mayor, Carlitos Reyes is our cousin.

Thank you traveldotcom for this lovely video. I enjoyed watching it. Haven’t gone home since December 2010.

It’s one of those days that I get to trim the carabao grass again. Although they are growing a little slow because it is summer I need to weed out unwanted grass too. The weather is just right for afternoon gardening. I am just halfway through, I still have so many things to do in the garden. It was quite windy but the sun shone brightly.

Our two jackfruit trees are bearing so may clustered fruits again. I noticed the small fruits at the base of the second tree not knowing that the first tree has born fruits earlier. I took one to cook in coconut cream.

The remaining five are now large enough to ripen. They were a little up the tree so we really didn’t notice them earlier. Maybe in a month or two, I could harvest again. Every year, these two trees give us fruits. All we do is water them every morning together with the other plants we have here plus the two Philippine lime shrubs (kalamansi) that bear fruits all year round. They are just perfect for a small garden. Some branches are in their flowering stage.

I am getting impatient with the lavender I planted late last year. I wonder how long it would take before it would bear flowers. The herbs I planted at the same time are doing well. Maybe the lavender need not be watered daily but the weather is hot here so I water them every day. Gardening is really a hit and miss thing. Sometimes you’ll see some flowers resurrecting in the heat of summer. Sometimes there are unknown plants that just sprout in a corner. I find fulfillment in gardening though just like I do with reading and blogging.

Gardening is also a relaxing activity and growing things from seeds and branches are just wonderful. You won’t notice the passing of time when you are in a garden. Some of my bulb plants and the Amazon lilies planted in pots are presently in bloom. Oh to see them bloom again. What a reward!

I have a little good news. I went back to SSS yesterday and what do you know, my pension is ready for credit. Alleluia! But two months of processing is quite long enough.

Got to trim our carabao grass again, replant some flowering plants and uproot some dead ones. I planted two more pineapple crowns behind the house. Those I planted earlier are growing nicely, let me see, I have seven in all now. I hope the first one would produce a flower soon.

The life of a gardener – plenty of time to enjoy the morning sun and the afternoon breeze. Sometimes it is quite a bonus to listen to the visiting sparrows. A hot cup of coffee is always welcome at the break of dawn, when the world is still asleep and the quiet could be felt.

I stay here in this corner most mornings drinking a hot cup of coffee and listening to the sparrows sing.

Despite the busy days at the garden, I was able to finish four books at the start of the challenge. I am in the middle of reading my 5th book now. Peter Mayle’s two books, AYear In Provence and Tojours in Provence (the sequel) were such a joy to read. I learned so much about what life was like in Provence. Now I am beginning to enjoy Italy, it is such a lovely place too.

It is a gray morning here. Weather disturbance Marce has intensified into a tropical storm. Although there is no typhoon signal here in Metro Manila, the sun hasn’t come out today.

I miss the sun and I miss the beach too. It has been so long since I’ve visited one. Nissa’s family spent last week at the beach. Nate told me that he had a wonderful time swimming even at night. It must be lovely to stay outdoors on a sunny day. It must be lovely to dig your toes in the sand and smell the salt air. It must be lovely to just idle around and think of lovely thoughts about life.

A picture of Nate playing with his daddy.

Moments of bliss. Moments of being thankful. Moments of just being happy. It takes a moment to experience simple joys. Barefoot, while the sun touches your face and you hear the sound of the gentle waves. The sea beckons in all its glory.

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Life starts with a beautiful dream. Life starts in somehow believing that one day you’ll get what you wished and prayed for. Life starts with something you believe you can do and dream about. My entries here are mostly about my journey as a cancer patient, a cancer survivor, a mother, a friend, and about the books I read, places I want to visit and have visited, people I want to meet someday and mostly about the daily grind of simple living. Dreams and Escapes is about having enough faith to go on, the will to live no matter how difficult life may seem sometimes and grateful appreciations of all the things one holds dear. It is about the belief that I could share a little of my journey through writing and writing is an escape for me. When things get a little too hard to bear, I put them into perspective by sharing them here.
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Recent Posts: Dreams Never End

Oh my goodness, I was busy keeping my main site updated that I clearly forgot to visit this blog for quite a while. Shame on me. I miss those times we used to go on road trips and discover places. I miss those days just driving around and seeing those beautiful and lovely views of […]

These flowers used to be permanent fixtures in my small garden. I had the lone shrub for years and it produces such lovely white flowers every year. Some months ago, the leaves slowly turned yellow then they dried up to brittle brown ones. This afternoon, my son and I decided to finally put it […]

It was one of those days when having fresh flowers in a vase would really perk you up. I wish I could also grow mums here but I think they need a colder climate than our hot, hot weather. Most flowers like these come from the cold clime of Baguio City up north.

A few years ago, I tried my hand at macro photography, just ordinary photos. I found these colorful Macopa growing in our yard and some Mangoes which my brother picked from our trees. Mangoes are in season now. They are best eaten ripe like this or you can also eat them green with a […]

I have always been fascinated by the different colors of greens in our small garden. I sometimes make it a point to take some shot of them when they are at their best. It’s been a while though since I took photos, my camera is not working well. I rely on my camera phone and […]

One of the best places we visited in our road trips is Regina RICA in Tanay, Rizal. It is a place of prayer and worship and that 71-foot tall image of Mama Mary is one sure attraction of the place. I love going on road trips. One learns a lot of things when one visits […]

It’s been a while since I last posted something here. Been updating my main blog though Dreams and Escapes regularly now. You can see it at the right corner of this blog. I’ve been busy for a while and just forgot to update this site. Hopefully, by the time I am done with my free […]

Gosh, I’ve practically neglected this site. HAPPY 2017 to all. Last Sunday, a few friends and I went to visit a member of our Catholic page at Facebook who is presently undergoing treatment for lupus. She was an OFW in Hongkong until more than a year ago. Since she is staying with his brother for […]